Elon Musk's deposition in his ongoing legal battle with Twitter has been rescheduled to October.
The Tesla chief executive was originally set to face questions from Twitter's lawyers on Sept. 26 and 27 and possibly Sept. 28 about his efforts to walk away from a $44 billion deal to acquire the social media giant.
Tesla founder Elon Musk attends Offshore Northern Seas 2022 in Stavanger, Norway, Aug. 29, 2022. (NTB/Carina Johansen via Reuters) (NTB/Carina Johansen via REUTERS / Reuters Photos)
A Monday court filing notes the world's richest man will now be questioned beginning at 9:30 a.m. local time on Oct. 6 and 7 at the offices of Potter Anderson & Corroon in Wilmington, Delaware.
"The deposition will be taken by a notary public, court reporter, or other authorized person who is qualified to administer oaths, and will be recorded by stenographic, sound and visual means," the filing states. "The deposition will continue from day to day until completed. All counsel of record are invited to attend and participate."
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In addition to Musk, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal was set to be deposed Monday. However, a source familiar with the matter told FOX Business that his deposition is being rescheduled to a later date.
Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, walks to a morning session during the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 06, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The rescheduled depositions come as the billionaire is preparing for a five-day legal showdown with Twitter beginning Oct. 17.
A representative for Musk did not immediately return FOX Business' request for comment. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment.
Twitter, which is looking to force Musk to follow through on the deal's original terms, filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery in July accusing him of refusing to honor his obligations under the agreement because "the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests." The company accepted Musk's $54.20 per share offer in April.
Musk, who has countersued, claims Twitter breached its obligations under the agreement by misrepresenting the total number of spam and fake accounts on its platform. Twitter maintains that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of its total users.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWTR | TWITTER INC. | 42.11 | +0.48 | +1.15% |
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Additionally, Musk's countersuit includes allegations from Twitter's former security chief turned whistleblower Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, who has accused the company of "extreme, egregious deficiencies" in its cybersecurity.
In addition to Twitter's security flaws, Zatko alleges the company's executives are "not incentivized to accurately ‘detect’ or report total spam bots on the platform." Instead, they are allegedly incentivized to boost the company's monetizable daily active user (mDAU) count with bonuses that can exceed $10 million. He also claims Twitter does not have the resources to fully understand the true number of bots on the platform.
Twitter has said Zatko's allegations paint a "false narrative" about its privacy and data security practices that is "riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context."
Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko testifies to a Senate Judiciary hearing examining data security at risk, Tues., Sept. 13, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin / AP Newsroom)
Other individuals who are scheduled to be deposed in the case include Musk attorney Alex Spiro, Twitter board chairman Brett Taylor, Silver Lake Partners CEO Egon Durban and Twitter Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran.